Dispensing machine



Aug. 23, 1932- A. H. DU GRENIER DTSPFINS TNG MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 19512 Sheets-Sheet l In ve qt DI'SPENS ING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 23, 1932 i entre 'TSTT I tiring"rinfrniisfii. v'intr GBNER. 'or inn'v'ijiitiriiliz;@MASSAHSETTSinisriiiisIne'iiriroiii1iE Thisinvetion relatesto automatic vendmachinesot' the." type' in'which' tan rendless o .carrier isf driven'vertic'ally-and .in Whiclithe carrier is Aprovided''With afseriesoslielves.:'havethexcapactyithereof sufficient to avoid' l0 the necessity ofincoiifeniently frequent visits for .the 'fpiiifposefof :replenisliingthe stock,

. land; 1vas'tlieavailablespace for such machines is usiially limitecLit is itherefore desirable itliatsucliniaoliines-be oloiistriicted tohold as f many' articles tore-venderlos possible-fortlie .l"spaceoccupied l Y -Thefobjects of? niy' invention are toy provide anacifiine ofthe typeabove referred to,-Wliicli is" so'rioiistructedthata 'siiig'leiendless carrier 2O'WiiicliJ is'^`ada1 ted4 to `:loe:operated 'lay asingle coin :controlled,leverginay'be loaded with'ftivoso'r more' times as many paclragesg-or -ar- 1 ticles to bevendedfas 'may be:p1ac`ed inn' adapted tofbe inserted therein'fronithe'iront, -frandfcoinprisesa pairy otV vertical side plates si-ini'lar`machines -liaving :carriers `of equal gade'ngtfh. f Y

I 5 accomplisiif these ooieets by :providing l a vertically extendingendless carrier having 1: .i projtiiigxslielves, each ofivliiclrisprovided; A Y

' rectly Qneoverif'theother, .the operating 1inech- :'anisin thereor Ibeing v.principally snp'ported. -onaipartitionl 22,; which is fmountedon the -side']; 1a1te17` finparall'elf relationltliereto and at ashortdistancetherefroni.

l. i i with a 1 plurality oi compartments arrange? a0transversely of thecarrier, each compartment being ladapted to vreceiveFan article tojbe fIifeiid-ecl.: Fand providingV operating ineens for fr* each' "shelfoorrespondingto vthe -nuinber of compartments thereoiajnd 'byliiirtlie'ri pro- 'viding means adapted to supp'o'iti the articlesiifhile the" slielifes' Larex ini :declining: positions, 'and to 'permitdelivery of the articleson 'each slielfsiiccessively asthe'compartinentthereof l is'li'ncr'ed Linto successive predetermined vposii.

.'Ations.

. For amore complete v[disclosure got the invention' reference isniadetotliefollowjing i specication Vin connection 'Withthefaccomg .pany'iiigdrawings,l iirivhicli Fig. 1 is-a front elevation ofv the machine f f'59.*,.1emovecle from ,tneouter casing.

casing.

fiivliicli--lis employed. Y

`carrier locking mechanism.

thencarrier'solfarranged'tlian onV each oper-1 ive inoveinent thereofthefcarrier will befad- '=""e.i" e'ie1 e i ianced to a Ysuce ss on of dhi 1y positions .asrcandy'barsau of thelsame kind andthe jcarrierl 19forfholdlingAV these packages coml prisesaseries 'oliiv fpiyotallyconnected carrier f sections, each .consisting of a.` pair offparallelshelvesQL and a .connecting bot-toni. 25,-.eacl1 .having-projecting earsWhich oyerlap ears on adj acont sections 4and are 'connected pivot 1Figugfris arvertioal Vsectional Viewftliereof Fig. Viig-isl af detailsectional viewonan enlarged scale, iat liieB-K-Siof Fig. 1.

' Fig. l Tis 'aA `detail sectional view Satalino 1 -1 lf'g 5 is a`perspective View "of 'the l-oiiter lEig'x-is a side eleaatiorrofV theoarrierfactuating'me'oli-anism, 4

Fig. *7 is a detail yseo tional View' on an en-V y. 8' is aq detailperspective YView of Aan article f supporting and delivering4 jdevi celFig. 9 is a detail View Vofaportioii ofthe ing 10, --is provided; witha reinovableffront side 11 having-inspection WindowslZ'and 13,

about -a' pair-fof `sprockets #20,21XV arranged- 4idisigneduffordispensing snialljpackagessuch rods Q'Gfthe endsof .ivholrprojc'ct int-overtical giiide Waysf'f? l on the iside. `plates "17 18.

l :Ing tiiepresent instance." the carrier sections 4are elongatedaxially or transverselyoffthe carrier, and afp'artitioii Q8isproVided-between :eachpairl of shelves transversely thereoffandniidjwayjbetween"theirnds, dividing j, each carrier-isection intotnyol.conipartnfientsl carrier A19 is mounted toY bei'driven vertically 'YV'io' andthelower spro'cket'20 ha's its" shaft 30 vexgftendect. thru thesideplates and the partition 22,. and actuating Ywheel 32 isl mountedYyond the frontof-the casing and the opposite arranged longitudinally ofits shelves, each of which open outwardly from the carrier, so that,when a shelf is held in a position in which rit is inclined downwardlyfrom its bottom, anarticle supported thereon ineither compartment mayslide therefrom byV gravity. Y l y The sprockets 20, 21 each have fourarms arranged 90 apart and have notches in ,their endsfto receivetheconnecting pivot rods 26 thereon. In the present instancesaid wheel32isfprovided with eight regularly spaced :and circularly arranged lugs33 and a corresponding series of peripheral notches 34.

The operating means forthe'carrier comprises an operating lever 35,of'jbell crank type, which is mounted on partition 22 by a pivot 36, oneend of said lever projecting beend being engaged with a lug 37 on aslide i 38, which is mounted for -reciprocation horizontally on thepartition 22, said slide having a pawl 39 thereon arranged to engage oneof the lugs 33 on the wheel 32, so that, on eachV y Vmovement of theslide by lever vfrom its est extent and isV released, sothat a spring 40attached to the slide 38, returns the parts to *their initial positions,the lower sprocket wheel 20'will be rotated thru .450, from the Yposition of Fig. 3, in which the arms of wheel 2O will be disposed at 45from the'horizontal or perpendicular, to the position of Fig. 2, inwhich one pair of arms will be disposed horizontally and the othervertically. Each section of the carrier will thus be heldsuccessively,.iirst inv a position in whichV its shelves will be heldhorizontally and its contents will be vin position for inspection thruthe window iny opening 14, second, inV apposition in which'the lshelveswill extend downward at an angleof approximately k'O vfrom thehorizontal, and third in a position which the 4shelves will dependvertically.

When held in either of the last two positions, a package supported inthe section may be delivered therefrom by gravity. In this connection asupport 42 is provided which con"- sists of a curved metal plate whichextends across the lspace between and'is secured to the front edges ofthe sides 17 and 18, and extends downward between said sides from apoint at, or slightlyabove the level of the shaft of the lower sprocket20, the portion 43 of said support whichis in Afronty of the right handhalf of the carrier, or the right hand compartment of each section,being extended down to the level of the top shelf of a compartment whenin the second position above referred to, and the portion 44 of saidsupport, which is in front of the left hand compartments of the,

carrier, being extended down to the ,position of the outer end of thetop shelf when 1n the third position above referred to.

delivery has been placed in both ycomparttion above referred to.

thru 450, Vthe section is moved to the second position, andthe packagein the right hand compartmentwill then no longer be .supported by thesupporting portionf43,vsothat it will slide from the shelf and bedelivered to the purchaser. For; the purpose of facilitating delivery,theinachine is provided with delivery plate 45, which is inclineddownwardly to the delivery opening 14 and a deflector plate 46 ismounted on the front side ofthe casing'in position to deiieot thepackage rearward, as it slides from the shelf when in saidsecondposition, onto-the plat-e 45.VV

In the meantime' the package in the left hand compartment of the.section will be retained therein by the supporting portion 44, butlwhen the section ismoved to the ythird position, shown in Fig. 3, thepackage will no longer be supported by the portion 44, so that it willfall therefroml and be delivered at opening 14. A. fixed partition 47 isprovided between the sides 17, 18, which exthus arranged, assuming apackage for tends rearward and upward in a curved direction in proximityto the path of the edges of the shelves, as they are moved upwardbeneath 'the lower sprocketfrom the-third position above referred to, orin a position to prevent access to the compartment, thru the opening 14.

` The mechanism shown for controllingthe main operating leverconstitutes no part of the present invention, but will be brieflyreferred to. TheV forward movement ofj the slide 38 'by the lever 35 isnormally prevented by a pivoted latch or hook 50, which engages a lug 51on the slide before the latter has beenv advanced sufficiently to engagethe wheel 32, but if a coin placed in the entrance slot 15 passes thecoin tester 54 and falls onto the slide 33, the latter, as it is advanced, will forcethe coin against Ya finger 55 on the'latch, liftingthe same, so that the llO slide may be moved to its extreme forwardposition, thereby causing the45rotation of the wheel. locked againstrotation by a locking pawl 56, which is lifted by the engagement of ahead' 57y on the slide 38 with a dog'58 on the pawl, as the slide isadvanced beyond the Vposition in which it will be'intercepted by thelatch 50. A bracket 60 on the slide 33 is arranged to extend between thelugs33 on wheelv 32,

The wheel is also normally Y to prevent rotation of the wheel during therearward movement ofthe slide before the pawl 56 Vfalls into lockingengagement with the wheel, so that removal of packages without inserting`a coin will be prevented.

With the above described construction the operating lever may bedepressed and a package delivered first from one compartment of thecarrier section, and thenfrom the other, each time a coin of suitabledenomination is inserted. Y

It will be apparent thatif the shelves ing arranged to support apredetermined plurality of articles on different longitudinal portionsthereof and to deliver the same by gravity when the shelf is in adepending position below the level of said axis, an operating devicearranged, by successive operations thereof, to advance said carrier to asuccession of delivery positions for each shelf corresponding to thenumber of articles to be delivered therefrom, and a support disposedbelow the level of said axisy and eX- tending in proximity to the pathof movement of the outer edges of said shelves in position to supportthe articles on the shelves as they are advanced to said deliverypositions and permitting successive delivery of the articles on eachshelf in the several delivery positions thereof. V

2. In a dispensing machine, an endless carrier arranged to be drivenvertically about a horizontal axis and having a series of axiallyelongated shelves projectingradially therefrom in spaced'relation, saidshelves having transverse partitions dividing each shelf into aplurality of article holding compartments occupying differentlongitudinal portions thereof from which articles sup-l ported thereinmay be delivered by vgravity 'when the shelf is in a depending positionbelow the level of said axis, an operating device arranged by successiveoperations thereof to advance said carrier to a succession of deliverypositions for each shelf corresponding to the number of saidcompartments thereof, and a support disposed below the level of saidaxis and extending downwardly in proximity to the path of movement ofthe outer edges of said shelves in position to support the articles onthe shelves as they are advanced to said delivery positions and ter-`minating to permit successive deliverythereof from each shelf theseveral delivery positions thereof.

3. Ina dispensing machine, an endless car- A' v7o Y rier arranged to bedriven vertically about a horizontal axis and having a seriesY ofaxially elongated shelves, projecting radially there-v from in spacedrelation, each shelf being arranged to support afpredetermined pluralityof articles on different longitudinal portions thereof and to deliverthe saine by gravity when the shelf is in a depending position below thelevel of said axis, an operating device 'arranged by successiveoperations thereof to advance said carrier to aA succession of deliverypositions for each shelf corresponding to the number of articles to bedelivered therefrom, and asupport mountedV in front of said carrier andextending downwardly and rearwardly in proximity to the path of movementof the outer edges of said shelves'fromapproximately the level of saidaxis, the different portions thereof being ex- 71sTY tended'respectively to the several delivery positions of each shelf, whereby asthe shelf is moved into ,its successive delivery positions the articlesthereon will be moved beyond` the corresponding portions of thev supportand be successively delivered.

4. In a dispensing machine, an endless chain carrier arranged to bedriven vertically and having a sprocket about which it is driven at thelower portion of its travel, saidcarrier having a series of suitablyspaced shelves projecting radially and elongated axially with relationto said sprocket, each shelf being arranged to support a pair ofarticles to be vended on the opposite longitudinal portions thereof, anoperating device arranged by successive operations thereof to advancesaid carrier to move each shelf successively fromV a positionin front ofsaid sprocket to two successive delivery positions beneath the same, inwhich the articles therein position to support one of the articles untilthe shelf is moved into the first of said delivery positions and tosupport4 the other article until the shelf is moved into the sec-A ondof said positions. Y Y

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ARTHUR H. DU Gina-runs.v

